Married and debt

[Saleen836]

A friend of mine is worried that her husband's debt is going to affect her, he has a gambling problem which she thought he had under control after his mum bailed him out previously on a £12k debt, she has just found out he has racked up £20k worth of credit card debt due to gambling, he has also recently lost his job (his own fault due to his 'I can't be bothered to go in today' attitude). They own a house together and things have been rocky between them for the past 12-18 months due to him being weird/defensive when money is mentioned, she has quite frankly had enough and is wanting out but is worried his debts will affect her financially as they are married.
Would I be correct in saying her 50% of equity in their house is safe or is it a case of his debts are 'thier' debts due to marriage?

[Rewe]

I’ve got a horrible feeling that marital assets and debts are shared.

[Piersman2]

Yep, they're married, they are a common pot of money effectively.

When they separate, the equity in the house will pay off the the debt and then whatever is left will be split between them, assuming no kids of course.

[bogie]

Maybe she can even things out before they split, borrow £20k and hide it somewhere, say she has blown it. 1/2 the equity will pay it off and then later she can get it back ....at least they are both in equal debt when splitting up

[Saleen836]

Piersman2 said:

Yep, they're married, they are a common pot of money effectively.

When they separate, the equity in the house will pay off the the debt and then whatever is left will be split between them, assuming no kids of course.

That is not what she will want to hear, no children involved though

[39sl]

That view of everything being a joint responsibility is not always the case...if the credit card is a joint account then yes, both are jointly responsible but if it's in just his name, then it is his debt and not hers.

There is a good summary here:

https://www.familylawgroup.co.uk/site/blog/flg-new...

The challenge is whether they can sort out the finances amicably and whether he agrees to take responsibility for those debts in his name...if he chooses to be difficult, then it could easily descend into a very painful and lengthy divorce settlement. I am speaking from experience here.

If it goes to a court to agree the financial aspects of the divorce, the court could divide the debts but in doing this, they will look at how each debt was incurred and if / how it benefitted each party...for example, one person taking out a personal loan in just their name but then buying a shared car or using it to make home improvements would almost certainly be seen as benefitting both parties but in the case of running up gambling debts on his own credit card, I'd suggest this would be seen as his debt.

[Nickbrapp]

Piersman2 said:

Yep, they're married, they are a common pot of money effectively.

When they separate, the equity in the house will pay off the the debt and then whatever is left will be split between them, assuming no kids of course.

Yep people forget when they want their dream wedding day that it means so much more than just a ring on your finger and a change of last name.

[Ransoman]

Your friends husband is Depressed/Mentally ill and he needs help, not abandonned.

[anonymous-user]

Depends, if he is declared, or declares himself bankrupt they cannot take the wife's equity (50% if jointly owned) to pay off his debts.

https://bankruptcyexpert.co.uk/articles/my-partner...

A little help above.

As someone posted, he needs help not to be left.

Edited by Lord.Vader on Monday 10th June 14:43

[Saleen836]

Friend has decided to stick with her husband and work things out, she did speak with a solicitor who pretty much told her what was said in here, the proviso she has made is that he gets help which apparently he is now booked onto a 3 day rehab course. I also found out that along with his gambling addiction he was/is quite partial to sniffing the white stuff.

[DonkeyApple]

Make sure that he signs up to this https://www.gamstop.co.uk as well as registering with all the online facilities he has used to date. If he uses physical bookies then walk him in to those and make him register with them.

Gambling is an addiction and victims need support but on top of that they need tough love. They won’t self police.

Frankly, she should have his salary paid into an account that she controls and she should DD him a daily amount.

She also needs to focus on the debt aspect. Make him close any credit accounts and write to lenders to instruct them to not make any further loans. The biggest problem in the UK is that Indint believe there is a system to stop problem borrowers but she needs to set him up a credit rating login so she can monitor for any applications. There is a register related to the problem of third parties opening accounts and that can be used to help slow down future applications as it forces additional ID checks. Ultimately, taking control of his income will give the strongest control over his debt addiction.